Ok Sloomer! The Rise and Fall of Second Life Generations

[Conall DeCuir]

I joined somewhere in the middle of 2006 the first time but after standing aroundin a desert as some sort of an insect, i left after 2 days  and came back in 2007. So i am an SLoldbie too. It was complicate as i didnt only had to get used to SL but had also to learn the english language. I fell in love with roleplay and thats the main reason i continued to be in SL. I think i did well, was open minded enough but still had and have my very own standard.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

13 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

the people who won't accept change are "boomers"

lol, no. Not going there, Love.

I'm not sure that direct parallels to RL "generations," as is suggested by your suggested names, makes a lot of sense? In what sense are "SLlennials" related to either Millennials or the millennium, for instance? Whereas what I've termed "SLoomers" (from analogy with "Zoomers," actually) do at least represent, demographically, an actual "boom" generation.

[Love Zhaoying]

15 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

lol, no. Not going there, Love.

I'm not sure that direct parallels to RL "generations," as is suggested by your suggested names, makes a lot of sense? In what sense are "SLlennials" related to either Millennials or the millennium, for instance? Whereas what I've termed "SLoomers" (from analogy with "Zoomers," actually) do at least represent, demographically, an actual "boom" generation.

Instead of asking questions, you need to look around and answer for yourself. IMHO lol

[Selene Gregoire]

51 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

"SLXians",

What the heck do Christians in SL (Xians as in Xmas) have to do with it? 

[Rolig Loon]

1 hour ago, Lyssa Greymoon said:

I joined in late 2007  .... Businesses and schools had just figured out they didn’t know what to do with SL.

The water may have started to cool by then, but schools had not yet started a mass exodus by late 2007.  That winter, I prepared a report (later shared with Claudia Linden) that summarized the activities of 52 colleges and universities that had a presence in SL.  Roughly half owned property, often a region or more, and about the same percentage offered some sort of regular programs (rather few actual classes, but many orientation and extension programs and tutorials, and quite a few demonstrations).  I concluded that SL was potentially a good platform for adult education and extension programs, but was not well-suited for traditional undergraduate classes except as an occasional supplement. Schools were just figuring that out for themselves, too, which is what you may have been seeing.  They didn't actually start leaving in droves until (1) the great recession cut into their discretionary funding and (2) Linden Lab removed the academic discount for land fees.  Those two events ended the education experiment in SL for all but a few large schools like the University of Hawaii, and schools that have maintained a presence in Library Science (like San Jose State University and Stanford) or have other specialized programs.

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

I do not define myself as any typical generation .. 

[Maitimo]

I joined SL first time round in 2006, shortly after the introduction of free Basic accounts, which I think was in May or June of that year. That right there was a big generation gap, and a big surge of population in SL. I certainly felt at the time that I belonged to a very different generation within SL  because of that difference. The true SLOldbies are the ones who never even had the option of a Basic account.

Hard to pinpoint any cultural difference between 2006 and 2008 when I started my second account, because I just switched one day from one to the other and since both avatars looked basically the same, I don't really remember which milestones happened when, without going to look them up.

I think the introduction of mesh was another cultural and generational change, because that raised the bar for content-creation to be out-of-reach of the average user. Anyone can make stuff out of prims and when everyone is making stuff that way, anyone can compete. But mesh is far harder and that's led to SL no longer being a creative platform for most users. So there's another cultural divide, between those who do (or did) create their own content vs those who never have and probably never will. I think mesh has contributed more towards SL becoming primarily a social and consumer-driven platform, far more than any attempts to integrate Facebook/Twitter etc. It's primarily social now because for most of us, that's the only skill we have here.

[Talligurl]

9 hours ago, BelindaN said:

The day I was born into SL...May 2018, was the first day SL existed for me. What happened before is an historical curiosity, but of no relevance to my SL life.

So, just like RL.

Really? I find lots of things that happened before I was born very relevant to my life. Especially my family's history, made me who I am.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Talligurl

[Cinos Field]

Originally there was a distinct difference between the super old players (who joined SL when joining cost money) and those of us who joined after free accounts became a thing. But it's more or less gone now.

While I do agree that there are differences between SL generations, is draw the something like...

1) super oldies. So dedicated to SL that they joined while it cost money. Mostly nerds and techy types, so the same as...

2) oldies, who joined when basic accounts happened. Just about the same as group 1. This generation brought in a lot of casual users as well, but because you had to make everything and everything looked very blocky back then, I think only a few of them stayed.

3) Residents. Those who missed the last name train. This was, from what I remember, also when mesh was introduced, which meant that creating became less important in-world, so a lot of these users never learned the building stuff or scripting. This made the game a lot more friendly to the average Joe, and this is when the game stopped being so dominated by nerds, because you could actually look beautiful! They, I think, are the majority of SL users active today?

4) Late joiners? Nowadays SL has little mass appeal, but new people do join. Which means new, young nerds who are curious about the virtual world, who mostly slot into groups 1 and 2 despite the age difference. Though many are also more like group 3. This group in general is even more vague than the others.

As with the original list, these are very hazy definitions and entirely anecdotal.

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by Cinos Field
Mobile typo fixing

[6SEEXIDOL9]

[Erwin Solo]

2 hours ago, Matty Luminos said:

I think the introduction of mesh was another cultural and generational change, because that raised the bar for content-creation to be out-of-reach of the average user. Anyone can make stuff out of prims and when everyone is making stuff that way, anyone can compete. But mesh is far harder and that's led to SL no longer being a creative platform for most users. So there's another cultural divide, between those who do (or did) create their own content vs those who never have and probably never will. I think mesh has contributed more towards SL becoming primarily a social and consumer-driven platform, far more than any attempts to integrate Facebook/Twitter etc. It's primarily social now because for most of us, that's the only skill we have here.

For me, I felt that I'd graduated from noob status when I finally replaced my last Alberto Linden furniture, and had my land furnished 100% with my own prims, except for a momento or two--decorative items from friends.

It's just not practical to do that anymore. I swear that I know how to build all the objects I own in Blender, but life is too short to make something one can buy for a pittance. (The forgoing does not include mesh clothes. I have never gotten into weight-painting mesh clothes. I am one of those guys that wears the same thing every day in-world)

So, yeah, I am speaking of a culture that doesn't exist anymore when I speak of the cachet of having the skills to 100% furnish one's land with one's own prims.  

I get flamed over anything I say about gender.  One cannot describe the second life culture shift without discussing gender. The situation is rather the opposite of what stereotypes would suggest. I wish I had a well-aged female avatar ALT to explain it, but alas I do not. 

Edited November 29, 2019 by Erwin Solo

[Erwin Solo]

11 hours ago, DilliDallagio said:

It was also during this time I found one of the most magnificent achievements in prim building I have yet to see equalled in this era of everything mesh: Nexus Prime. I studied Nexus Prime to the point of derendering large portions of it just to see how it was built. Amazing work but as typical in human nature, disagreements in the direction that community was headed lead to its ultimate deconstruction and end

I miss Nexus Prime. Funny thing is that it was a hostile uninvited build on that SIM. 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 hours ago, Tarina Sewell said:

I do not define myself as any typical generation .. 

And indeed, you should not. You aren't "typical," and neither am I. Nor is anyone else here. We're all individuals and unique, shaped to some degree by our histories and our backgrounds, and our own quirks, but in combinations that make us different from anyone else.

The point of generational maps like the one I've slightly playfully put together, isn't to fit any one into a slot. They are, at best, analytical tools that help us look at the "big picture," but they are utterly useless when applied to individuals. And that's true of RL generations as well.

Define yourself any way you want, Tarina, whatever "era" you hail from. Your uniqueness, and mine, and everyone else's, embodies the real value of SL. And that value, comprised of each of us being and doing our own thing, is ultimately the only thing that makes talking and thinking about SL worthwhile in the first place.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Erwin Solo said:

For me, I felt that I'd graduated from noob status when I finally replaced my last Alberto Linden furniture, and had my land furnished 100% with my own prims, except for a momento or two--decorative items from friends.

It's just not practical to do that anymore. I swear that I know how to build all the objects I own in Blender, but life is too short to make something one can buy for a pittance. (The forgoing does not include mesh clothes. I have never gotten into weight-painting mesh clothes. I am one of those guys that wears the same thing every day in-world)

So, yeah, I am speaking of a culture that doesn't exist anymore when I speak of the cachet of having the skills to 100% furnish one's land with one's own prims.

Yes. I've spoken before about my sense that "creativity" in SL, well, it isn't exactly dead, but it's been channeled into new endeavors by the fact that mesh creation now happens off-world, and has a pretty steep learning curve. I used to build a lot, and really enjoyed it. I'm still doing it, actually, using prims to create photo backdrops. But it's not the same as it once was, when I could build an exhibit or installation that was, quality wise, at least acceptably attractive and professionally done. I don't think a prim-based build really cuts it any more, unfortunately.

1 hour ago, Erwin Solo said:

I get flamed over anything I say about gender.  One cannot describe the second life culture shift without discussing gender. The situation is rather the opposite of what stereotypes would suggest. I wish I had a well-aged female avatar ALT to explain it, but alas I do not.

I share your belief that gender, and maybe especially sexuality, is part of the culture shift in SL over the past 10 years anyway. In fact, I considered briefly addressing it in my OP.

Erwin, I'm genuinely interested in what you might have to say on this subject. And you don't need a female alt to say it: a male perspective on the subject is completely valid, and interesting in its own right. My sense of what I've seen you post on this subject elsewhere is that I have issues not so much with what you say (although that doesn't mean I agree with it), as with the way in which you express it.

Please feel free to try to express what you have to say on this. I can't promise that I'll agree with it, but I promise not to "flame" you, if you, for your part, are a little careful to use language that is respectful of women. I say this because, believe it or not, I'd like to hear your views.

[Erwin Solo]

3 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Please feel free to try to express what you have to say on this. I can't promise that I'll agree with it, but I promise not to "flame" you, if you, for your part, are a little careful to use language that is respectful of women. I say this because, believe it or not, I'd like to hear your views.

The short version is that SL now has a gender imbalance in erotic roleplay. Erotic roleplay in the SL of my experience is rather involved, with considerable time required to set an elaborate scene leading to consumation and fulfillment, as well as an ongoing relationship, with variants of the scene playing out over months, even years.

Avatars of one apparent gender seem to enjoy this more than avatars of another apparent gender. Within the roleplay the former appears to be getting the worse end of the deal viewed through conventional social justice norms, for the roleplay's pretense is that the latter acts on claims de jure (versus by negotiation). Yet, for reasons lost in the primordial-sea of time, the former seems to enjoy it rather like a Harlequin Romance Novel.

A decade ago, most genders seemed to view the scene as a fair trade of time and energy relative to the benefits to their respective fantasy lives. 

Today, all genders have access to unlimited free erotic video on demand, just as all have low cost, virtually free, access to the genre epitomized by the Harlequin Romance Novel.

However, one apparent gender has disproportionately shifted their attention to unlimited free erotic video on demand.  SL roleplay being mostly polyamorous, the reminant of one apparent gender finds itself spread quite thin playing its role within the roleplay environment. This increased workload leads to further shifting from roleplay to the previously mentioned alternatives. 

[Rob Huntsman]

This doesn't really connect for terms of generation... This is more of a list of updates in an eye of the beholder. For example, Second life releasing bento is quite of an accomplishment for new technology for their product. Heck, surprised animesh didn't even make this list with that kind of mindset. However, all these updates in second life is really just doing the bare minimum just to compete against other gaming brands. Because this is actually what we see in other video games Raycast, Mesh, Hitboxes, etc. It's really not next generation.

Anyway, as terms of this and next generation its really more like this. "generation. A generation can refer to a group of people who live at the same time and are about the same age. But generation is also the act of creating something, such as income, ideas or kids." I look at it more as the second part...

A great example would be the console period which we are still dealing with today from the year 2000. Depending on what hardware you own = better FPS.

Two decades later, 2020 we are now looking into streaming major graphic demanding games through your web browser. Google Stadia as an example.

2030, I predict VR (Virtual Reality) will come back yet again and probably become affordable, more commonly used, because of company's cloud gaming service. Because then you just gotta buy an affordable headset console around 200-300 bucks, then pick an affordable streaming service platform paying 10 dollars a month.

 

Anyway... that's really more next generation when you're comparing stuff decades apart.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Haselden

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Thanks for the response, Erwin. I do appreciate it.

50 minutes ago, Erwin Solo said:

Avatars of one apparent gender seem to enjoy this more than avatars of another apparent gender. Within the roleplay the former appears to be getting the worse end of the deal viewed through conventional social justice norms, for the roleplay's pretense is that the latter acts on claims de jure (versus by negotiation). Yet, for reasons lost in the primordial-sea of time, the former seems to enjoy it rather like a Harlequin Romance Novel.

This is certainly demonstrably true. The reasons for the tendency for many women to enjoy the role of submissive, or to want to RP things like rape (which is not the same, of course, as merely having rape fantasies) are pretty complex, and not likely to be resolved by those who study it any time soon, but I suspect that an awful lot of it has to do with literally millennia of social conditioning. There may be a mix in there of other factors (including, just possibly, biological). I think it's key to distinguish -- and I'm not suggesting that you are not doing so -- between "fantasy" and a desire to act out that fantasy. A third phenomenon that can look similar, but is very different in cause and effect, is that of the woman who has been abused to the point that she has come to blame herself, and accept that her abusive treatment is somehow merited. Finally, there are women who have been abused or raped and who find it therapeutic to RP these situations because, in role play, they have a kind of control over a re-enactment of their trauma that they find empowering and healing. (Personally, I'm not sure how wise it actually is to undertake this kind of thing without professional supervision, but that's their decision.)

1 hour ago, Erwin Solo said:

However, one apparent gender has disproportionately shifted their attention to unlimited free erotic video on demand.  SL roleplay being mostly polyamorous, the reminant of one apparent gender finds itself spread quite thin playing its role within the roleplay environment. This increased workload leads to further shifting from roleplay to the previously mentioned alternatives.

What I take you to mean here is that more men are now availing themselves of free online porn, and not bothering with the work involved with RP. And the result is that there are far fewer men to undertake this kind of RP with roughly the same number of women?

That is an interesting insight. Does it relate to the general decline in long-term RP in SL? I wonder if there is a parallel imbalance in those RP forms that are not primarily sexual, or involving D/s and BDSM relationships. What impact does it have on male RPers -- beyond presumably leaving you exhausted and, um, drained?

I'd be interested to hear what some of the women who engage in this kind of RP have to say about it . . . we have a few here.

Thanks again, Erwin. This was interesting, and I enjoyed reading it.

[Alazarin Mondrian]

According to Scylla's timeline, I'm an SLoldbie. I'm good with that FWIW, I only found out about 4Chan and SA long after I'd joined SL.

[Conifer Dada]

I think Scylla's SL generations are spot-on.  I've been around since 2006 so I must count as a SLoldbie, although by some miracle I haven't aged a single day in the intervening 13 years!

But I can think of some additional generations or sub-generations, for example:

Gamblers - For my first year or two there a lot of gambling in SL and the grid was full of gambling houses full of avatars sitting at virtual gambling machines for hours on end.  A change in the gambling laws in the USA quickly put an end to this. 

Ad Farmers - I'm almost nostalgic about ad farms.  At one time they were everywhere.  Someone would buy some land, divide it into 16 sq metre plots and advertsisers would pay ridiculous amounts to buy these tiny plots to put floating boxes with full-bright adverts on.  

[Alazarin Mondrian]

7 hours ago, Cinos Field said:

1) super oldies. So dedicated to SL that they joined while it cost money. Mostly nerds and techy types, so the same as...

2) oldies, who joined when basic accounts happened. Just about the same as group 1. This generation brought in a lot of casual users as well, but because you had to make everything...

 

IIRC, I paid US$10 to open my basic account when I joined in 2005. Went premium a week later and never looked back.

[Caroline Takeda]

I have an ALT in each generation!
My first one is from 2007

[Garnet Psaltery]

8 hours ago, Cinos Field said:

1) super oldies. So dedicated to SL that they joined while it cost money. Mostly nerds and techy types, so the same as...

 

I'm going to call myself a super oldie now.  

[Caroline Takeda]

33 minutes ago, Conifer Dada said:

I think Scylla's SL generations are spot-on.  I've been around since 2006 so I must count as a SLoldbie, although by some miracle I haven't aged a single day in the intervening 13 years!

But I can think of some additional generations or sub-generations, for example:

Gamblers - For my first year or two there a lot of gambling in SL and the grid was full of gambling houses full of avatars sitting at virtual gambling machines for hours on end.  A change in the gambling laws in the USA quickly put an end to this. 

Ad Farmers - I'm almost nostalgic about ad farms.  At one time they were everywhere.  Someone would buy some land, divide it into 16 sq metre plots and advertsisers would pay ridiculous amounts to buy these tiny plots to put floating boxes with full-bright adverts on.  

And the Vampire Generation.

[Alazarin Mondrian]

16 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

... I did enjoy recalling the visits I had to 4Chan's hangout though I wasn't supposed to say I did.  I found them generally intelligent and funny.

What, the old place at Baku? I was seriously underwhelmed by what looked like a trainwreck of poorly built memes populated by a closed clique who were so far up their assholes their were looking out at the world through their teeth. Yeah, they all thought they were oh-so-clever and avante-garde because they could write a sim-crasher script. I managed to get myself banned from Baku in and amongst some of my early-day shenanigans.

[ThorinII]

With my first account (created in March 05, 3008), I guess I still count as "SLoldbie". My current account though is from January 15, 2017 - so that makes me a "Benter", too. 😎